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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz=Moon Sunjung·Lee Hyeongjin] Market speculation that Hanmi Semiconductor is supplying TC bonder equipment to Samsung Electronics has been found to be unfounded, industry sources said.
According to AlphaBiz reporting compiled on Monday, Samsung Electronics is understood to be using TC bonders based on the TC-NCF (Thermal Compression–Non-Conductive Film) process for its HBM4 production.
Under the TC-NCF process, a non-conductive film (NCF) must be inserted between chips in advance due to the nature of the manufacturing process.
By contrast, Hanmi Semiconductor’s dual TC bonder—at the center of recent supply rumors—uses an MR-MUF (Molded Reflow–Mass Underfill) process. In this method, chips are first stacked, after which a liquid protective material (MUF) is injected simultaneously into the gaps and then cured.
A source familiar with Samsung’s internal operations said, “As chip thickness becomes significantly thinner, suppressing warpage becomes increasingly important, and as the number of stacked layers rises, structural stability is critical. That is why Samsung is understood to be adopting the TC-NCF approach.” The source added, “It would be more accurate to say that Samsung Semiconductor has no interest in Hanmi Semiconductor’s TC bonder.”
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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
From HBM4 onward, chip thickness is expected to decrease further, while stack height is projected to increase from 12 layers to 16 layers or more.
Yoon Yong-pil, an adjunct professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said, “As Samsung Electronics has continued to deliver solid results with HBM4, speculation arose that it might have abandoned SEMES’ TC-NCF approach—which struggled during HBM3E—in favor of MR-MUF. That assumption appears to have evolved into rumors of Hanmi Semiconductor supplying equipment.” He added, “While such a shift might be conceivable for Micron Technology, which is facing challenges with HBM4, it would be difficult for Samsung Electronics to adopt Hanmi Semiconductor’s equipment.”
According to the securities industry, unverified reports have been circulating widely that Hanmi Semiconductor could supply 200 units of its dual TC bonder to Samsung Electronics and 100 units to Micron.
Meanwhile, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report published on Sunday that Hanmi Semiconductor’s TC bonder (TCB) sales mix in 2024 was heavily concentrated on SK hynix (69 percent) and Micron (23 percent). The bank projected that the mix would shift next year to SK hynix (28 percent), Micron (34 percent), Samsung Electronics (25 percent), and Chinese chipmakers (13 percent), adding that expanded exposure to Samsung Electronics and Chinese semiconductor firms would serve as key growth drivers.
Merrill Lynch also noted that the ramp-up of new fabs—including SK hynix’s Yongin facility and Samsung Electronics’ P5 plant—would begin to meaningfully contribute to earnings in 2027–2028, supported by a high-margin business structure.
Reporters made multiple attempts to contact Hanmi Semiconductor for comment, but received no response.
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